Bed Time Story
by cloudsword
Summary: This Story takes place while Bolt and Mittens are still on Neutros with the Kits. An enchanted Book sends the family back in time, to help with the construction of the Higharchy Castle. How will they get home? Read and Review!
1. The Book

**Bolt – Bed Time Story**

**Thanks to dALEkilLsU for his help with the story. Neither of us own Bolt, If we did then this would be canon. Disney owns the rights.**

**This story takes place while the Kits are still on Neutros.**

"Goodnight mommy!" hazel said as she pushed her head and scooted under the covers. The moment she popped her head back up, she received a lick from her father, Bolt the Super Dog. "Goodnight sweetie." Mittens the cat said to her daughter. "I hope I get to have a dream of adventure!" Wolf said as he turned his head and curled up. Bolt chuckled at the adventurous little Kit, "You won't if you don't go to sleep." he said, and turned to his other son, Mike, "Mike!" he said sternly, and saw Mikes ears twitch. "Yes Daddy?" he asked. The look on Bolt's face was all the answer he needed. "Phthhhh!" he sighed and pulled the tip of a blue leather bound book out from under his covers. Bolt grabbed the book in his teeth gently, and pulled it out the rest of the way. "Sorry sport, but bed time's the same on any planet. Even this one." Mittens said, and the two of them walked out the door. Moments passed as Bolt and Mittens returned the book to the Avona's Library, and passed by the door to the sleeping Kits. "You know it's funny." Bolt said as he turned from the door to his wife. "What's that?" Mittens asked while chuckling. "After all we've been through they'll always stay the same." he told her as they turned the corner and disappeared. "Ugh!" the two year old Kit with chipmunk stripes groaned. "I'll be up all night now. I never got to see if he lives or dies. I hate not finishing a book." With that, he turned his head to his siblings, hearing their soft breathing without seeing their eyes. The other two were facing away from him. "I Think they're asleep, I'll just finish the chapter." he whispered to himself, and quietly pushed his covers off, before tip toeing past his siblings. The moment exited the door, he thought he was home free, and took off down the grass padded hallway. "We should tell mommy!" Hazel said. "He's not in any danger, besides what if he uses his powers and they catch him?" Wolf argued silently, "We should just catch him red pawed and get him to go to bed." Hazel thought about it, "Why can't we show Mommy and Daddy again?" she asked. Wolf slapped his paw against his forehead in exasperation, "Cause they won't let us use them if they know, remember?" he said. "Oh yah!" Hazel exclaimed only to have Wolf glare at her, for the twelfth time.

Mike walked around the Library as quietly as he could, "Now where did Daddy put that…Ah!" he said as he found what looked to be the he had been reading. It was placed on the top most part of one of the shelves against the back wall. Concentrating hard, Mike eyed the book, and slid it off the shelf using telepathy. Down the book floated, but when he read the cover, he noticed "Hey, this isn't the book I was reading!" and read the title out loud, "Journal of the Scholar. Hm." he was about to open it when he heard his brother say, "Daddy said you need to be in bed." Mike was startled enough that he dropped the book, and it landed open on the ground. "I…I was just going to finish the chapter." he said and turned to see both his siblings. "Ugh, you didn't tell did you?" he said specifically to Hazel. "Nope!" she said and whispered, "Mommy and Daddy would have seen you using your powers. But you still need to go to bed before you get caught." "Too late." they heard Mittens say. When they turned around, both their parents were standing there, Bolt only half way in the room. "How much did you hear?" Wolf asked in fear. "We heard Hazel say that you'll get caught, and Mike is in the library with the book I just…"when Bolt looked to his left, he saw it, the book Mike had been reading before. "If that's…then what…?" Bolt asked as he pointed from the blue book near the door to the book on the floor. "Well anyway, it's a book." Mittens said, "You were going to read during bed time weren't you?" she asked as she looked to Mike. He folded his ears down, and answered solemnly, "Yes Mommy." Hazel walked up to him, "Mommy, will you read us a bed time story, maybe it will get Mike's brain to slow down." she asked, and looked to the book on the floor. Mittens smiled at her daughter, then turned to her son, "I think that will be a perfect idea." she said, but the family was interrupted when the pages of the open book began flipping wildly by themselves. Hazel didn't move from her spot, she just kept staring at the book as it went wild. Suddenly a great gust of wind could be heard, but not felt. The sounds of a hurricane deafened them all. "It must be enchanted." Mittens shouted as the wind finally started. "Why does everything here have to have magic attached to it?" Bolt asked at the same volume, and pushed his way towards his daughter. Before he could reach her, it seemed as if the floor underneath him just vanished, and the entire family of animals fell through. The wind was powerful enough to whip them around and throw them into the water when it finally died out. Mittens wrapped her paws around Mike and Wolf before pushing towards the surface. Bolt grabbed the suddenly unconscious Hazel and swam as quickly as he could to Mittens. Bolt broke the surface of the water, placed Hazel on Mittens' back and pushed himself under her. At once he began swimming towards a nearby shore. "Hang on." he shouted as Mittens held onto the two boy kits. Wolf pinned himself against his father's back, and Mike made the move to grab his sister from his mother's back, and pull her to safety between their mother and their father. It took some doing, but Bolt eventually got his family to the beach shore. Tired and wet, he inched himself up to the driest part, and flopped down. "Thank you Bolt." Mittens whispered to him, and used a wind blade to cut a giant leaf from a nearby tree, and place it over the family of mix matched creatures.

Hours later, Bolt finally let his eyes flutter open, the light of the mid day shining into his eyes. "Uh," he groaned and lifted his head, "what time is it?" "Time to get moving lazy bum." he heard Mittens say, and looked to his left to find her, the Kits and a beach. "Wait, all that really happened?" he called out. "Yah, it did." Wolf told him. Hazel walked up to him, "I'm sorry I was out cold daddy." she said. "It's ok," he told her, "you're safe, and that's all that matters." with that he rubbed his cheek against hers, showing his affection for his daughter. With a giggle she turned back to her mother and tackled her brother Wolf. "Gah!" he called out and the three of them began to play. "Sorry kids, there's no time for that. We've got to get moving and find out where we are." Mittens said, and began walking away. The kits stopped their rough housing and bounced away to follow their mother. Bolt simply chuckled, "I should ask Penny if I ever acted like that." he said, and got up onto all four paws before taking off like a blur to reappear next to his wife. It was a while before they actually found something, a castle in the middle of being built. "Where are we?" Wolf asked. Mittens tweaked her mouth in thought, and walked towards the structure. Bolt and the Kits followed close behind, making their way to the unfinished structure. Upon their arrival, they heard what sounded like an argument going on, two people yelling at each other from a distance.

"I'm telling you Gandure, it can't be done." the first men said. Gandure was a tall Neutrosian, with dark brown hair and tan skin. He seemed to be dressed in what looked to be primitive clothing. "That earthling said that it could. Why would he lie to us Benyard?" Benyard stood almost a foot shorter than Gandure and had blond hair, his cloths were the same except for the color, his fur tunic seemed to have been died a bright blue. "Gandure, can't you see, we are just his tools, his puppets. It is we they should be serving, not the other way around." Benyard said. His tone of voice almost seemed like it was whining. "Um, excuse me?" Mittens asked as she got the attention of the two arguing Neutrosians, "Could you be so kind as to tell a lady and her family where they are?" "What lady are you?" Benyard asked, his voice carrying an insulted tone. Gandure on the other hand bent down to one knee, and curiously gazed at her, "What sort of creature are you?" he asked. "I'm a cat." she said and turned to her family, "That's my husband he's a dog. And those little critters are our children, the Kits." "Mommy, what's a…kridder?" Hazel asked innocently. "Young lady, it matters not." Benyard said forcefully, "This castle is just a pile of rubbish, a waist of good time and slaves." Gandure stood from his seated position, "This Castle will be the center point of our society. It will lead us to prosperity. Those so called slaves will finally be free from your lazy grubby hands." he said angrily. "And what Castle is this?" Mike asked, curiosity building inside of him. "I said it doesn't matter!" Benyard yelled, effectively frightening Mike. Mittens turned to him slowly, her eyes narrowed in anger, "I don't care who you are or who you think you are Mr." she said as she stood up and approached him, "But you will show respect to **my** family, or I'll make sure you'll regret it the most painful way I can think of!" with that, she let her Crystal claws slide out of her paws. Benyard took one step back in fear, "D…do you know who I am?" he asked, trying to sound insulted. Mittens pointed her glowing red eyes at him, "I just told you, I don't care!" she said, the darkness in her voice freezing even Bolt's soul. "Now I asked you, what castle are you building?" she repeated. "This is the Beginning of a great turn in our lives miss." Gandure told her kindly, "This is Higharchy Castle." "Well then that settles it, This Castle is getting built." Mittens said as she trotted away. "Wait just a Tick! What makes you think you can just walk in here and tell me, Ardwick Benyard, what to do?" the Neutrosian asked in anger. Mittens turned back to him, "Because I said so!" she told him, her eyes glowing an even deeper, almost crimson, red. Her anger was nearly at its breaking point, and Benyard could tell. He simply growled at her, and stomped away.

"Thank you Mrs. That man had been unfairly controlling the people of my village. He owns the only source of food, we have, and he gives us meager amounts while we work on his farm." Gandure told her. "Well you don't have to worry about him now, not while we're around." she told him. "Bolt?" she asked, and turned to her husband. When his ears lifted themselves to the sky, she knew he was listening, but he still turned to face her, "Would you be so kind as to help some of these poor people in building this place?" "That would be very generous of you." they heard a young voice say. When they looked to it, they saw a human, in ancient English Scholarly cloths. He wore ancient circle rimmed glasses, and carried a book in his arms. "That man has been interrupting work on this structure for several days now, he believes that because we're from Earth, we are to be instant slaves to others. I on the other hand, embrace freedom and wish to bring a true monarchy to this world." "We'd be honored to help with the construction, trust me, with us on the job, this will be done quicker than expected." Bolt told the man. the Scholar jumped in surprise, "Amazing." he said, "When did dogs and cats gain the power of speech?" "It's just us, I'm afraid." Mittens said to him, and began walking close by. "Back to business, Bolt and I will help with the carving and transport of the materials. All we need from you is to keep an eye on our Kits for us." "Our?" the Scholar asked and glanced at the little creatures. "I thought that…" he started, but Mittens interrupted him, "Long story, and if I'm not mistaken, you don't have that long, do you?" "No, because of Benyard and his followers we're very behind schedule. All I have left are a couple of days." "Then let's hop to it!" she said, and ran off with Bolt following close behind.

Bolt and Mittens had made great progress, with Bolt's strength and speed as well as Mittens' magic, the Castle was more than half done within a few hours. "I'm board!" Wolf said. Mike yawned, showing his own agreement. "There's nothing to do!" Hazel complained. "Hey Mike, what time is it?" Wolf suddenly asked. "It is exactly…" he said and looked to the sky, "2:37, in the Nembiant month of the Neutrosian year 204." "What month is Nembiant again?" Hazel asked. "It's between July and August." he said. "What was yesterday?" Wolf asked, thinking of nothing better to do than test his brother's mind. "The month of Plera, year 1026." Mike told him. Hazel and Wolf both let their eyes open wide, "Wait, what?" Wolf asked in shock. "Yah, we traveled approximately 822 years and three months into the past." he said nonchalantly. "We're in the past, but how?" Hazel asked in panic. "Tch duh, the book you opened." Wolf said, his eyes glaring at her. "Don't blame her Wolf, she had the right amount of magical power to use it, and it just kind of used itself. She didn't even know she did it." Mike said, coming to his sister's defense. "UHG!" Wolf groaned, "There has to be something worth doing, like a treasure hunt or something." "Perhaps, if you could go and retrieve the Wizard's staff." someone said. When they looked up, they saw the scholar standing above them. "I couldn't help but overhear your plight, and the Wizard's Staff might be just what you need to get home." The eyes of all three Kits lit up with stars, shining with hope. "This is our chance to go home. We don't have to stay here!" Wolf said. "Mommy will defiantly like that news." Hazel said. "We could get it ourselves." Wolf suggested. The lights in his siblings' eyes faded, and the two of them glanced at him with worried looks. "Come on." he said, "How hard can it be?"

**To Be continued**


	2. The Quest

**Chapter 2 – The Argument**

"How hard can it be?" Mike imitated, trying to impersonate his brother's voice. His ears effectively pinned against his head in anger. The three of them walked along the bottom of a thin, narrow gorge. "Hey, I thought we'd be able to use our powers to get there and back in seconds, ok?" Wolf snapped. "Um, guys?" Hazel asked. "Yes?" Mike turned, true concern evident in his eyes. "I don't like this; I think we should go back." Hazel said, and Wolf chuckled, "Oh yah, let's turn around now that we're almost half way!" he mocked. "Well, I think she's making more sense that you!" Mike countered. "Hey, you agreed that getting the staff would be the ideal way to get our family home." Wolf snapped. "Well yah, but I forgot that I'd have to deal with your over inflated ego!" Mike countered. "I dare you to say that to my face." Wolf shouted as he turned and literally got into Mike's face. Hazel crouched further down as she stopped, and watched a few rocks fall to the floor. "Be Quiet!" she shushed, "You'll make an avalanche." Mike stiffened his lip to his brother, and backed off, "She's right you know, the walls are unstable and a loud noise could set them off." he said. "You just don't want to seem like a chicken!" Wolf said, though hushed as well. "No, I'm just sensible and listen to my sister." Mike told him. "Hah, basically a chicken." Wolf said. "I'm not discussing this now." Mike said, trying to end the conversation right there. "Well I am." Wolf said, his voice getting louder. Mike groaned and wanted to bury his face in the dirt he was walking on. "Admit it, you're just a chicken, a big…fat…CHICKEN!" the last part Wolf had nearly shouted, causing the actual word to echo across the walls. The wall in turn rumbled, causing the three kits to stiffen and look up. "Uh oh." Wolf said as he watched the large bolder tumble down, and he quickly took off at top speed. Mike on the other hand turned and grabbed his sister's paw, before vanishing completely and reappearing at the corner that he could see. Mike seemed to know just where to appear, and took no more that a second to make a calculated move to reappear at the next spot. Wolf easily kept up, dodging the falling rocks when needed, but mostly tried to stay ahead of the devastation. Thanks to his ground travel, Wolf spotted what looked like an escape from the falling rocks, a path that branched off to the left. He quickly took that path before the rocks blocked it for good.

When the dust finally settled, Wolf lay sprawled out on the ground, coughing and trying desperately to grab as much oxygen as he could. "Boy, that was hairy!" he said, expecting a snide comment from his brother. When he didn't receive one, he finally turned to look behind him. "Mike?" Hazel?" he called out. "We're ok, no thanks to you loudmouth!" he heard from the other side of the rock wall. "Smart alack!" Wolf retorted, "Can you teleport to my side?" "Oh yah, how am I supposed to teleport to a place I can't see?" Mike asked. "It's just a question." Wolf said. "How about you, can you use your super speed to get over here?" Hazel asked, and Wolf looked up. What he noticed was a curved taper near the top of the walls, curving in towards each other, almost touching, more like a tunnel with a small slit in the top. "No." he told her, "The walls are high and curved inward at the top, if I tried to use this; all I'd do is run in circles…literally." Mike sighed, "Ok, we'll just have to try and meat up with each other somewhere along the path, unless you want to try to dig out the entrance." he said. Wolf grunted, almost growled, "I can get there by myself!" he shouted and took off as fast as he could. Mike sighed again, "Looks like it's just you and me." he said to his sister, and quickly noticed that she was close to tears. "No no." He said as gently as he could, "Don't cry Hazel, if you cry then I'll cry and we won't get anything done." "I just want to go home!" she said, trying to calm her nerves. "And we will," Mike told her, "when we meet up with Wolf again, we'll get the staff and go home, I promise." Hazel sniffed keeping her tears back, "Really?" she asked, looking to her brother for the truth. "Yah, really." he said and hugged her, "Love you sis!" he told her, the brotherly love showing through, "Now let's go find Wolf."

Bolt zoomed across the plains, dragging with him a block of stone bigger that three of him. On top sat Mittens with her wind claws out, the magic of air caused the block of stone to hover only an inch above the ground, making it slide easily as Bolt pulled it towards the Castle. "I can't believe it, the Higharchy Castle is almost done, and I don't think it would have been if not for us." Bolt said as he ran across the field. The moment he was within the castle walls, Mittens cut her magic, and the block and Bolt came to a sudden stop. "Don't give yourself too much credit Waggs, it's not done yet." Mittens said as she jumped down from the block. "Perfect shot as usual." Bolt said to her as he pushed his nose into a pre-dug rut. Squeezing himself under the block and lifting it in the middle. "Erg, I think they keep getting heavier." he grunted and carefully turned to put the block in its spot on the lift crane. The Scholar soon turned to Mittens as she watched her husband ascend to the top of the castle. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help, both you and your husband." he told her. "I hope our children haven't been bothering you." Mittens said. "No not at all!" he said, "I've actually asked them to fetch me an artifact we found earlier. Shouldn't be much trouble at all." Mittens chuckled a little, and lifted into the air with her wind claws, "Let's hope they get it to you without breaking it." she said and soared to the top with Bolt. The earth scholar smiled to her, until his smile fell and he turned to where he knew the Kits were, "At least I hope it isn't any trouble." he whispered to himself, worry making its way to his features.

**To Be Continued…**


	3. The Trial

**Chapter 3 – The Trial**

Wolf blazed through the caves quickly, moving left and right so many times he had lost track of each. He moved forward, but was sure at several points that the cave had looped back around. "This is ridiculous!" he told himself, and pushed forward, stopping only when he saw the floor disappear from in front of him. The little kit skid to a stop, but not soon enough, he was forced to turn around and try running the other way in order to slow down enough that he didn't careen off of the edge. Instead he found himself hanging from the cliff face, looking back at the trail he just blazed scratching at the loose dirt with the dog like nails of his front paws. He kicked wildly with his back pawn, trying desperately to catch a foot hold so that he could propel himself up to the flat surface. Only when he thought he was going to fall did he actually catch a break, his left back paw caught onto a protruding rock, just enough to let his climb back up. Wolf caught his breath before cautiously glancing over the edge, his night vision easily picking out several skeletons at the bottom with what looked like stalagmites literally forming over top of them, merging them with the rock formation. Others were stuck on the tops of the stone spikes, and the sight of them caused the kit to gulp hard, and slowly look up to weigh his options. What he saw was in the middle where some of the stalactites and stalagmites met, a few of them had pieces of ground, a platform of some sorts suspended in the middle of them. "This is going to be easy!" he said to himself and backed up until he was sure he could get a good running start, and ran as quickly as he could. He found himself nearly sailing over the first one, causing him to turn around and claw at the floor again, luckily only his back legs ware dangling off of the side this time. Again he found himself clawing at the ground to help himself back up. Safe on the ground he very nearly hyperventilated as he just sat there, breathing, "Not as easy as I thought!" he said to himself. Gulping to try and calm his nerves, he glanced at the next one. "Too fast and I over shoot, but too slow and I won't make it!" he told himself, and crawled to the edge, finding a stack of three skeletons lying half buried in a stalagmite. He gulped again, "But if I don't at least try, I'll end up like them!" he said, and retreated his head to look towards his target. "I wish Mike and his big brain were here." he said and backed up as far as he could, before getting a run at it, he used less speed than last time, causing him to barely catch the edge with all four paws. With a sudden jump, Wolf found himself nearly in tears as he landed and lay there in the middle of the platform. "I can't do this." he said, the phrase foreign to his ears, yet seemed so right at the moment. "I'm just too scared." he told himself and curled into a ball of fur, "I want my mommy and daddy."

He tried to stop his sobbing when he thought he heard something, something that sounded a lot like heavy breathing. He glanced around, trying to pin point the sound mostly with his ears, but because of the cave's acoustics, the echoes made it almost impossible that way. He finally inched his way past the stalactite pillar that blocked his view of the wall, and thanks to his night vision, saw what was breathing. The monster was easily as large as the cave with a flat ghastly face and razor sharp teeth that seemed to be bore all the time. The large bull like horns that were protruding out of the beast's head looked like they could move mountains, and the short blue fur reminded him of one of the stories Mike had read out loud, the tail of the Minotaur. The beast had massive oak tree sized arms and nails the came out like claws from the tip of its three fingered hands. The lower half was garbed in brass armor, all the way down to its black hooves. Wolf gulped in fear, "This day just gets better and better." he whispered to himself, and slid back behind the pillar of stone. Suddenly the breathing stopped, and the beast sort of growled as Wolf heard the horns scrape the ceiling, knocking down stalactites when they hit. Wolf went absolutely silent, barely daring to breathe as the thing moved, hoping to bore the thing back to sleep. Not surprisingly, it sniffed the air and turned right to where Wolf was sitting. With one step, the creature caused several of the stalagmites to crumble under its hove. It reeled back its massive arm, and somehow Wolf knew he was in trouble. In a panic, the kit took off like a rocket, and somehow made it perfectly to the next platform right before the things hand crashed right through the pillars and platform. "Mouth shut, mouth shut!" he scolded himself for his cursed remark, and again took off for the next platform as the thing slowly charged towards him. The beast continued to follow him, knocking down every pillar he came across as the chase was on. Wolf actually managed to make almost all of his jumps, all except the second to last one. Again he over shot and slid to the farthest edge of the plat form to dangle from the rocky ledge. This time he was forced to use his mouth to clamp down and hold himself while he tried to get back up. The beast then reeled back his arm again, and smashed the pillar above the platform. The impact caused it to break at the bottom in such a way that it began to topple over and twist so that Wolf was now on the top of it. Quickly the kit stood up, released his grip from the stone, and jumped towards the far side of the cave, catching it only with his front half. The whole room began to shake and crumble as he pushed to climb up the rest of the way, and the beast bellowed out an angry call, reaching for the kit as he finally made it to all four of his paws and bolted for the cave exit. What he didn't see, was the ceiling collapse right on top of the creature, piling on it one rock after another until it was too much, and the creature was buried underneath forever.

Wolf continued to run as fast as he could, the only thought running through his head was that of his siblings, 'If that's what was waiting for me, what do Mike and Hazel have to go through? Oh I wish I never wanted to go on this stupid adventure.'


	4. The Test

**Chapter 4 – The Test**

Meanwhile Mike and Hazel were both making their way through the cliff walls. The sun was right above them at that moment, so the two kits found themselves tired and hot. "Oh wow it's a scorcher today." Mike said and continued to pant. "Does that mean it's hot out today?" Hazel asked. "Yes, it does." he said, probably too tired to argue or insult her, besides, he didn't want her to cry. "Ugh!" he finally grunted and sat down, "Do you got anything in those claws that can help?" he asked. "I'm not as good as mommy." she admitted, "I can't put my power through my fur." "Well, maybe you can freeze our fur just a little, you know, just to keep the heat off." he suggested. "What if I overdo it?" she asked in a nervous retreat. "You won't, just make it slow and I'll tell you when to stop." he told her. Hazel bit her lip once and then nodded, pulling out her ice claws and barely pressing one paw against his fur. Ice crystals began forming on his fur instantly, causing his body temperature to drop ever so slightly, to a comfortable point. "Oh, that feels good!" he said as he cooled down, "Ok stop." he told her as he looked to himself. The fine ice crystals that formed cooled him rapidly, and he smiled at how effective it was, the ice slowly melted thanks to it being magically created. "Ok, your turn Hazel, remember, go slow." he said, and she nodded, gently placing her claws to her fur and watched it freeze. "There, that's good." he said as her fur gathered the same amount of ice as his own. She quickly pulled her paws away from her body, and retracted her claws to keep the magic under control. "You're right, that does feel better!" she said happily. Mike smiled at the smile on his sister's face, and turned to assess the situation, "Ok, if we hurry, we might be able to make it to the curve up ahead of us before the ice on our fur melts." he said and crouched down, "Ready?" he asked. Hazel quickly got along side of him and crouched down as well, "Set!" she called out. "GO!" the two of them said at the same time and they both took off running. Hazel then jumped over her brother's back, landing neatly on his other side. Mike laughed as he squeezed into her side, acting like he was going to slam into her only to pull out at the last second. The two of them played as they ran, happily laughing in the sun even as the ice melted on their fur. Hazel stopped momentarily to shake off the water droplets that had gathered after the melting and ran again, laughing to catch up to her brother around the turn, only to stop and gaze at the very thing he was looking at. Carved into the side of the mountain was a large structure, a temple with a large round stone door, that looked to be the same size as a Borlantic, or giant black mole/bear, and had runes from Neutros carved into the edges spiraling into the center.

"This is ancient?" Mike said as he admired the art work. The pillars were perfectly carved out of the rock sides of the cliff, and the walls smoothed out to have statues of ancient Neutrosians carved out of them and set near the door frame. It looked to be only one floor, but a large one floor it was. The towering top of the building seemed to be no less than fifteen or sixteen feet high. "Can you read it?" Hazel asked innocently. "I can try, but this is ancient Neutrosian remember, older than even what we're experiencing." he told her and racked his brain on the translation. "The…Sta…ff…staff of enlightenment…lies beyond…this…pa…pa…path." he put together, "The staff of enlightenment lies beyond this path." he repeated, getting both him and Hazel to try to remember it. "Beware…ye…who en…env…envy? Envoy? Invoke! The…Daemon's wr…wr…wrath." he finished, and repeated the whole thing, "The staff of enlightenment lies beyond this path, but beware ye who invoke the daemon's wrath." "What's a Daemon?" Hazel asked. Mike lifted his eyes in thought, "How do I describe this?" he asked himself, "A daemon is basically an evil monster." "There are good monsters?" she asked. "Yah, remember Centant?" he reminded her. "Oh yah!" Hazel said with a smile. and the two gazed at the door again. "Do you think they have air conditioning?" Hazel asked, and Mike flattened his eyes in embarrassment, "No." he said flatly. After answering that little bit of common sense, he marched up to the door, and touched it with his paw. "There's no way of getting in." he said and looked to his side as Hazel met him at the top. "Are you sure?" she asked and placed her paw against it. "Yah, I'm sure of it…" he began saying, but Hazel interrupted him, "It feels magical." she said. "Magical?" Mike repeated, "Than maybe you can get us in." he suggested, and examined the door again, "Stone," he said, "Not from around this region. Maybe moved here by magic. Try earth claws." Hazel lifted an eye brow and faced the door, however instead of extracting her claws, it seemed as if something spoke to her, "To move the elements, you must first find their weakness." it said. "Weakness?" Hazel asked, and got a confused look from her brother, "Huh? I never said weakness, I said earth claws." he told her. "Something just said 'to move the elements you must first find their weakness', that's what it said." she told him. "I didn't hear anything." he told her and looked to the door again, "But it does make some poetic sense of you stop and think about it." Hazel lifted an eyebrow as she looked to him, "Huh?" she asked. "Water." he said, "Water pushes stones down the stream, tumbling them around and eroding them into smooth rocks that you see along a river bed." he said, "Use your water claws." Hazel turned to the door in confusion, then to her brother, "What's 'eroding' mean?" she asked. "Wear down, like when you sharpen your claws on the scratching post, only to rocks." he told her flatly. "Oh!" she said as realization hit. Mike smiled and sighed as he shook his head at her innocence, then she placed one of her paws against the door and extended some liquid blue claws that had light flow through them in a waved pattern. The light hit the door and flowed a while, before the writing on the spot on the door where the light shined, lit up. Mike looked to the runes, and gulped, "Menumorae!" he shuddered. "What's 'Menumorae' mean?" she asked. Mike looked to her, nervous, and said, "In English, it means 'walking snake'." As soon as he finished his translation, Hazel to gulped, and the two of them turned to the door. "Maybe it's just a lizard!" she said trying to be optimistic. "Let's hope so." Mike responded before he trudged into the building, followed closely by Hazel.

The inside of the building was like a cave, carved out of stone and almost circular in structure, except the floor seemed to be flat. There were what Hazel constantly called 'glow stones' along the wall, the white light shining on their path and illuminating the wooden furniture that naturally grew out of the ground. Desks and tables shaped from bushes and chairs made from vines and rocks. They traveled deeper into the tunnel like depths of the temple, only to hear from the other side of a wall, the charging call of Wolf, right before he barreled through the left side. The three of them began coughing as they lay on the floor, letting the dust settle around them as it cleared. "WOLF?" Mike asked as he continued to cough, "What's the big idea?" "I just [Cough] got away from some [Cough, cough] big thing, and I turned around to see a wall, so I crashed right through it." he explained as the dist finally left the lungs of the three kits. "Well you almost crashed **us** as well!" Mike said, and was surprised to see Hazel dart right past him and wrap her paws around Wolf's neck, "WOLF!" she called out, "I thought we'd never see you again!" Wolf simply chuckled and gently pulled his sister away from him with a smile, "It'll take more than that to stop me from coming back to my family!" he said in a proud tone. "Yah, I'll bet!" Mike mumbled as he tapped his claws against the floor of the hallway. "You got something to say smarty pants?" Wolf angrily said as he gently pushed past his sister. Mike glared at his brother nose to nose, and turned, "No, not really." he said, "but I am glad you're back." Wolf looked at him confused at first but then smiled. "So what's our next move?" he asked. "We keep looking for the staff, but keep your eyes open for the Menumorae." Mike said. "What's a Menumorae?" Wolf asked. "Walking Snake." Hazel responded. "That's right," Mike said, "and we stay together." Wolf and Hazel both nodded, and the three of them followed Mike as they traveled further into the mountain side. "At least we have a way to escape if we need it, right Wolf?" Hazel said, and turned to her brother. "Well, no." he said. "Huh?" she asked in confusion. "The creature made the ceiling collapse on himself. I don't think anyone is using that way out…or in." Wolf told them. "Creature?" Hazel asked. It had kind of an ugly face with blue fur and horns on top of its head." Wolf told them. "Mantipus!" Mike told him. "Really…Mantipus?" Wolf asked, "Sometimes I think you make this stuff up." "The Mantipus was supposed to be a kind of golem, but made out of a real creature instead of stone." Mike told them, "They placed a spell on the Mantipus in order to get it to obey instructions, though it usually did that a little too well." "How so?" Hazel asked, genuinely curious. "If you command it to protect a room from invaders, it will also attack you." the chipmunk striped kit told them. Suddenly, something shot out from the darkness of a nearby room, missing Mike and hitting Wolf in the eyes. "AGHH!" The little gray kit shouted, "I can't see!" Again something shot out, but this time, Mike was ready, he quickly put up one of his barriers causing the black liquid to splatter almost five feet in front of them. "What is that?" Hazel asked as she heard a loud hiss echo through the room. What entered the light was a large green scaled humanoid, with the head that looked to be a perfect mixture of snake and woman. The long legs slapped the ground with clawed feet, and two arms almost as long protruded from shoulders near the head. A tail almost as long as the body dragged the ground behind the thing. "Guys, I think this is the very first NeoNeutrosian, the Menumorae!"


	5. The Enemy

**Chapter 5 – The Enemy**

"My eyes are burning." Wolf said as he tightened his eyes lids together. "What do we do?" Hazel asked. "I'm thinking…" mike told them, "Just grab onto my fur and keep your shield up." Wolf told them. "But you can't see to run." Hazel told him. "Then be my eyes." he told her. Mike once again put up his barrier to stop the spray of black poison from the Menumorae's mouth, "I'm with him." he said and gripped the collar around Wolf's neck. Hazel did the same and shouted, "RUN!" right as the Menumorae lunged at them. Wolf took off like a flash, just a streak of grey, white and black down the hall. "Left!" Hazel shouted, and Wolf turned left, almost clipping the corner of the wall. "RIGHT!" she called out again, nearly causing Wolf to slam Mike into the edge. "Hey the idea is NOT to knock one of us off!" he told her. "I'm sorry." she said, and Mike piped up, "Turn left…now!" he shouted, and Wolf turned a sharp left, before he heard Mike shout, "STOP!" causing the grey kit to screech to a stop, just barely touching a wall in front of him. Mike let go of Wolf's collar, and turned to look at the door they just passed, and using Psychokinesis, slammed it shut and locked it using the primitive locks. "Hazel, you use your water claws to clean out Wolf's eyes, he'll need to be able to see." Hazel simply nodded, though visibly shaking, and turned to her blind brother. She extracted her liquid blue claws, and placed them to her brother's eyes. They spread across his face, encompassing his eyes and effectively cleaning the poison from his fur. Once she dropped the tainted water to the ground, she returned to him to continue cleaning out his eyes, "You have to open your eyes for me to clean them Wolf." she told him. "But they hurt." he complained. Mike placed his paw on his brother's shoulder, "It'll be a permanent blindness if we can't get it out of your eyes, just try to keep them open long enough for Hazel to clean them for you." he told his brother. Wolf bit his lip, before slowly and painfully opening his eyes to the liquid around them, and slowly, black ink like liquid seeped out of the sides. "I…I still can't see. My eyes are open right?" Wolf asked. "Yes, they are." Mike told him sadly. "Oh no, we're too late. I'm blind!" Wolf said as he began to panic, and Mike placed both paws on his brother's shoulders, "We're not too late Wolf, it's only temporary. As soon as she's done, your eyes will stop hurting, and a few minutes after that, your eyes will focus. You will be able to see again, I promise." he said. The confidence in his voice was far more than what he felt, and Hazel could see that, his ears were flat against his head. "Well, ok, if you promise." Wolf said, he had never felt so vulnerable in his life, and now he was in a life or death situation, "But do we have enough time?" he asked. Suddenly the door started to shake as a loud thud from the other side began pounding on it. "Hazel can you speed this up a bit?" Mike asked. "I'm sorry," she snapped, "but I can't play hide and seek with a giant Neo-Neutrosian Snake and heal my brother at the same time." Mike rolled his eyes, and glared at the door, "How long do you need?" he finally asked. "Three minutes." she said, and Wolf lifted his ears in concern. "I'll do what I can." he said and vanished instantly. He reappeared behind the Menumorae as it pounded against the thick wooden door, "Hey, ugly." he called out, and attracted the creatures attention, "You're mommy was a gecko!" he said and turned to run away. The Menumorae took the bait, though it probably didn't understand a thing he said, and chased him through the halls.

Mike ran as fast as he could, dodging the poison as it sailed by him, using the sound of the Menumrae spitting to time his dodges correctly. "Three minutes," he repeated to himself, "That's all I need to give them." Ducking into one of the rooms on his left, Mike came to a screeching halt when he came face to face, with historical torture devices, all of which looked to have come from Earth. "Just who were these people?" he asked, and heard the hiss behind him. He turned to find the creature still not at the door, so he bolted behind the nearest thing he could, an Iron Maiden. The Menumore charged into the room, and came to a stop. Looking around all it saw were the Devices, so it began sniffing the air. The creature then looked right at the Iron Maiden, and walked up to it. Mike quickly moved to be behind a stretch rack, right before the Menumorae knocked the Iron Maiden to the floor. Mike quickly and silently snuck to the next device, just as the Menumorae reached its clawed fingers underneath the wooden bench. Mike then vanished, teleporting back to the door and sneaking out. He was about half way out the door, when something whizzed by him, brushing up against the fur between his tail and back. Mike then turned to the other side of the hall, and watched as a set of five blood red claws stuck out of the stone, dripping with dark green venom. "Oh shoot." he said to himself and ran, just as another set of claws whizzed by him, one of them scratching the tip of his tail before burying itself into the wall. "Not good, Not good!" he said to himself as he zigzagged down the hall way, dodging the claws by chance, "Projectile claws with poison." He quickly put up a barrier, just as a set of claws were thrown his way. The claws actually pierced his shield about half an inch and the venom began dissolving the energy around them. "Aw crap." he sighed to himself and continued to zigzag down the hall ways, dodging the claws and poison spit. He quickly ducked into a nearby room, and mentally slammed the door behind him, locking it in the same way. He slowed down a bit, turning to make sure that his powers worked the right way. Happy with what he did, he glanced around, finding that he was in the mess hall. The large table could easily seat fifty or more people. It was made from a thick piece of wood, growing straight from the ground at several points to hold it up. Suddenly he cringed, his strength waning and a sharp pain at the tip of his tail. He lowered his tail to the ground, and reached around with his paw to look at the tip. There was only a simple scratch, but he now knew what was happening. "Neurotoxin!" he said as he released his tail and limped off towards the wall. "My adrenaline must have staved off the effects, but when I stopped moving…" he said, and looked to the other side. The door shut tight, and the bar in place, he concentrated on it. The bar began shaking violently, but remained firmly inside the metal holds. "Messing with…my powers." he said and staggered into the fireplace. The moment he was there, he flopped down and tried to roll around, but didn't do more than lay down on his side. "I…Can't…" he started to say, and found himself completely paralyzed from tail to nose. 'So…so strong. I…can barely think.' he told himself. His body twitched every few seconds, completely involuntary.

The door to the mess hall began to shake, something beg slamming up against it. 'This is it.' he thought to himself, 'Outsmarted by a giant lizard cobra with legs.' The noise continued to come, louder and louder. In his mind he could see his father's smile, feel his mother's soft fur as she embraced him in a motherly hug, smelt the cooking that Penny and her mother made for them once in a while. 'I wanna go home!' he finally thought, and the door finally shattered, but not because of the Menumorae, but rather because of Wolf and Hazel, slamming into the Menumorae's back. "Did I get him…her…it?" Wolf asked, his eyes still shut tight. "Yes, you did!" Hazel said as she let go of his back. She tugged on her brother's collar to lead him off of the Menumorae's back, and over to the far wall. "Mike?" she called out, and Wolf shushed her. The involuntary twitches had made their way to Mike's voice, and he grunted during each spasm. "He's over there somewhere." he said and pointed his paw towards where he thought the sound was coming from, "And I think he's making fun of me." Hazel tugged on his collar again, leading him towards the Fireplace, and found Mike, "Or in trouble." she said, and rushed over to her brother, letting go of Wolf's collar. Wolf turned his head here and there, not feeling his sister tugging on his collar, "Hazel?" he asked. "Just stay there, the Menumorae is still out cold." she said and turned back to her downed brother. "All this soot is going to soak up any water I try and use." she said, and grabbed Mike by the collar to drag him out of the dirty place. "Are you sure the snake thing is out?" Wolf asked. "Yes…why?" Hazel asked. "Because I think I hear it waking up." Wolf told her, and Hazel turned just in time to see the creature lift its head, and look right at her.


	6. The Hero

**Chapter 6 – The Hero**

Hazel shook with fear as the creature stood back up, its shining yellow eyes locked onto her. "What do I do now?" she asked. "Point me to it and I'll ram it." Wolf said and crouched down to his chest. Before he could even try anything, the Menumorae pointed the tips of its right hand fingers at him without looking, "JUMP!" she shouted, and he instinctively jumped into the air, effectively dodging the projectiles as they bounced off of the ground. The creature then point it's left claws at him, only to get knocked back by a blast of wind from Hazel's claws. "Leave my brothers alone you big bully." she yelled, and ran at the creature. The Menuemorae once again opened its mouth and spit poison at her, but with a single word, "Lelicna" she caused the flying poison to evaporate in mid air. Unphased the creature dipped down and seemed to slither across the floor as it tried to get some distance from the kit, only to spring into the air and try to attack. Hazel ducked underneath the table, avoiding any attack the Menumorae had in mind. She didn't even look to see what it was, she focused solely on her enemy. "Nentanuri!" she mumbled, and the chair closest to the creature unraveled itself before weaving around the Menumorae's legs. The vines then grew, moving their way up to the mouth, causing it to look down and begin spitting and clawing at the growing vines. With the Menumorae distracted, Hazel dashed out from under the table and approached her brothers. "Wolf," she whispered and pulled him by the collar towards Mike before lifting her paralyzed brother's tail, "Grab this in your mouth but be careful." "What is it?" he asked. "Mike's tail, just help me." she pleaded. Gently, Wolf grabbed hold of his brother, pulling him from the fireplace in the direction Hazel lead him. She placed all three of them under one of the nearby chairs, before glancing at the Menumorae just in time to see the vines get stabbed in the trunk with its claws, causing the plant to shrivel and die quickly. "Stay here." she told Wolf. "Hey! Not again!" he complained.

Hazel jumped up onto the table, placing herself in the middle and getting the creature's attention, "I'm starting to get angry with you." she told it and extracted her claws. The Menumorae lifted one of its hands, only to stop and look closer at the claws. They were made from a pure white light that shined brightly, and it seemed to both frighten and anger the creature. At first it growled, the let loose with a violent roar before throwing both sets of claws at her. Hazel lunged forward, easily dodging the claws and jumping off of the edge of the table to latch herself to the Menumorae's face just above the mouth. Hazel mewed and yowled in protest as she dug her claws into the scaly flesh of the snake like creature and the Menumorae reared back, spitting poison wildly and fruitlessly. Just as quickly the Menumorae reached up to grab her, only to have her jump down just in time to have the creature pierce its own face with its claws. Hazel landed at the feet of the NeoNeutrosian, and swiped, cutting the shin deep. The lizard/person lifted its leg up to grip the injury with both hands and hop around on the other foot. Hazel took off like a bullet before the creature chased after her, only to get rammed into by a speeding grey kit. "YES!" Wolf shouted, and just as quickly opened his eyes, "I can see you!" and took off like a rocket. "Hazel, you heal Mike, I don't think he's doing well." he shouted to her as he watched the Menumorae stand up slowly. Hazel looked to her fallen brother and found him still. She quickly ran up to him and found his breathing shallow, his feet twitching uncontrollably and his tongue laying on the ground. Quickly she changed her claws into the blue water claws, and pierced the skin near his heart. She pulled her claws away slowly, a growing bubble of dark green liquid following closely. Mike stopped shivering and smacked his lips together as his breathing quickly stabilized. First he twitched his paws, and then lifted his head off of the ground, "I'm alive!" he said to himself, and heard a slash nearby. He looked to see Hazel as she dropped the deep greed sludge on the ground, "Are you alright?" she asked. "Yah, thanks sis." he responded. Wolf zipped up to the two of them, "What do we do?" he asked, "Everything we try that thing learns to counter." Mike turned to the door he had tried to open before, and the latch easily flew out of its place, allowing the door to open wide. "We run for now." he said, and grabbed onto Wolf's collar. Hazel gripped the collar as well, and the three of them zoomed off, just in time to dodge a set of poison claws that lodged themselves in the ground.

Wolf ran as quickly as he could with his two siblings holding onto his collar the way they were. Even through his held breath, he noticed that the hall he was traveling down had no other doors along the sides. 'What is the deal with this hall, it's like no one was allowed to live in it.' Wolf thought to himself. Mike and Hazel both had their eyes closed as the three of them blazed down the hallway, until Wolf came to a slow halt. "Why'd you stop?" Hazel asked and looked in front of them. There at the end of the hall stood a large door, one that looked to be even bigger than the hall. "Whoa!" Mike said and walked closer to it. Twenty feet from the giant door, the hall way ended, spreading both up and out until the giant door could fit into the room. The outside of door was adorned with gold, silver and brass metals. Along the inside on the actual door was a mural that depicted a circle of fire that melted into air, then into water at the bottom and finally stone and leaves that faded back into the fire. Inside the circle was a spiral of white and black, melting together at the edges and in the middle of the picture was what the artist thought the world looked like, a circle with brown land and red water. "This is incredible." Mike said in awe. "What is it?" Mike asked. "This door must lead to the Wizard's Staff." "What makes you say that?" Hazel asked curiously. "The size of the door tells me that this room houses something important." Mike said, "The ornate design tells me that it's a sacred chamber and the mural suggests magic, perhaps a magical object. Therefore the most logical conclusion would be the Wizard's Staff." he said with a smile. Wolf and Hazel both looked at him, Wolf's head about to spin into confusion, "Oh!" Hazel said and smiled. Wolf looked to her, finally deciding to just forget about it, "How do we get it open?" he asked. Mike opened his eyes, a small shock still evident on him as he lowered his ears, "Um…I have no idea." he said, and turned back to the doors. It was evident that there were two very large circular doors that opened up at the outside of the mural and split down the middle, but there were no handles on the outside at all. The opening disappeared at the sides, suggesting hinges that he could not see. "Um…maybe magic?" he suggested. "So Hazel is our MVP?" Wolf asked as he looked to his sister. "MVP?" she asked. "Most Valuable Player." Mike explained. "Wait…I thought it meant 'Majorly' … um… 'something, Puppy'." Wolf said as he wracked his brain. Mike lifted his eyes as high as they would go, and shook his head. "So I just have to find the right spell?" Hazel asked. "I don't think it's that simple." Mike said and approached the door, studying it carefully. Hazel scrunched her lips, thinking hard before following him close. "This center," Mike mumbled to himself, "Light and darkness in the Yin Yang sign." What he didn't see was as Hazel neared the door, her eyes once again faded into white. She passed him and placed her paws against the door, "What's going on?" Wolf asked, and was quickly hushed by Mike, "It's the same as before, the magic is using itself." he said, and watched as Hazel extracted her claws, one side light and the other shadow. The center of the mural shined with light on the side with darkness, and was engulfed in darkness on the side of light. Both powers funneled themselves into the picture of the planet in the center, turning all of the water from red to blue and the land to a lush green color. The door then opened itself, moving outwards on the hinges that Mike and Wolf could not see. Hazel shook her head, waking and staring into the black depths of the chamber before her, "Hey, how did you two get it open?" she asked as she turned to her brothers. "Uh, we didn't, you did." Wolf said in shock. "Really?" she asked, "How?" Mike simply smiled and answered, "Magic."

**To Be Continued  
**


	7. The Staff

**Chapter 7 – The Staff**

Hazel gazed into the darkness that enveloped the other side of the large door, fear and excitement fighting within her for dominance. Wolf and Mike stopped themselves at her sides, both staring into the darkness, Wolf with the excitement of adventure surging through him, and Mike with the curiosity of ages circling his mind. "I suggest we go in." Mike said as he steeled his nerves. "Let's all take the first step together." Hazel offered. "I like it." Mike said, and the tree of them stood at the same line, "Ready?" Hazel asked as she turned to her brothers. They simply nodded, "Ok." she sighed, "One." "Two." Mike counted. "Three." Wolf said, and the three of them lifted their best paw, and stepped in beyond the threshold. The three of them continued to move in sync for a few steps, disappearing into the darkness. They traveled a short while before whispering could be heard, one that eventually seemed familiar to them, especially Mike, "I thought this staff was supposed to grant wishes." the angry voice said, "I wanted a way to destroy that blasted castle, but instead they found someone that could help speed it up." "I think it's that guy from before, Benyard." Mike whispered. "You sure that was his name?" Wolf asked quietly. Mike glared at his brother, and nodded. The three of them crept up to an opening in the wall where a soft blue light poured out onto the floor in front of them. "That old tablet those simple villagers found in **my** mine said that this staff was supposed to grant wishes." Benyard said just as they peeked around the wall. The room he was in was carved out of one solid piece of stone, and probably as big as their house back on Earth. There were no shelves in the room and the glow seemed to be coming from a short staff in his right hand. The platform in the middle of the room had two support posts on the ends, most likely for the staff to rest on. Benyard sat in the middle of them, without any real care for his surroundings, just the object in his hands.

The staff itself looked to be made from a sort of blue coral, or crystal, with a single strand of marble wrapping itself around the handle until it reached the head and extended out, wrapping around a large sapphire embedded into the very top. The jewel was shaped into what looked like a tear drop, with the point of it buried in the top of the staff. Along the handle, the marble ribbon pulled away from the staff, just enough so that a hand could fit comfortably underneath at a spot about half way down the handle. "That's the Wizard's Staff." Mike whispered to his siblings as he brought his head back to hide completely behind the wall. Wolf and Hazel followed his lead, and hid themselves as well, "How do we get it?" Hazel asked. "Who's there?" they heard Benyard ask. The three of them placed their paws to their mouths, almost daring not to breathe as the Neutrosian looked to their direction. After a moment of silence, he stood up, and began to make his way towards the door, using the staff as a light source, he turned the corner with his hand out in a claw-like formation, "HAH!" he shouted, and found nothing. "Huh," he said and dropped his hand, "Must have imagined it." He didn't see however, the three kits floating above him, Mike concentrating really hard as he lifted himself and his two siblings only centimeters from the ceiling. The chipmunk stripped Kit pinched his eyes closed as hard as he could, trying desperately to hold the three of them in the air, but ultimately he lost focus, opened his eyes and the three of them fell on top of the Neutrosian. Wolf landed on top of the man's left shoulder while Mike landed on his head and Hazel was forced to grab hold of the staff as she passed by. Again her eyes faded to white, and the staff exploded with power at the top, the sapphire spreading light to every corner of the room and hall. The light then flashed, and seemed to flow upward from the floor in a kind of wave-like reflection, almost as if it were passing through water. Benyard reached up and grabbed Mike from his head, tossing him to the wall of the halls. The Kit disappeared instantly and reappeared on the floor as he shook off his shock. The Neutrosian then grabbed Wolf by the scruff, and reeled back to throw the Kit into the alter room, his invulnerability triggering quickly as he slammed into the wall. Just as quickly, he stood back up and shook off the dirt. Benyard then tried to wrench Hazel off of the staff, however she held fast, digging her claws into the coral handle as she held on subconsciously.

"Remove yourself from my property!" Benyard growled at her, and released her to begin violently swinging the staff in random directions, hoping to throw her off of it. She held fast, her tiny claws digging into the coral of the handle as he then tried to slam her against one of the walls. In a flash, Wolf placed himself between her and the hard stone, taking the hit for her, "That's my sister you're throwing around!" he growled, and zipped down the staff to slam his head into Benyard's shoulder causing the Neutrosian to release his grip on the staff and clench the offending bruise in pain. Mike then levitated her and the staff before taking off down the hall, "I got them, let's go!" he called back to his brother. Wolf turned to his brother's voice, turned his head slowly back to the pained Benyard growling, "COME ON!" he heard his brother shout, and Wolf turned on his paws, taking off down the hall to meet up with them. Benyarde growled himself as he slowly lifted his head towards the fleeing kits.

"Is she going to be alright?" Wolf asked as the two of them ran down the hall. He looked up to the floating staff with his sister still attached. Mike kept his eyes in front of him, focused on the road shadowed by darkness, "I hope so, cause if we can't snap her out of that trance Mommy and Daddy will have a hernia!" he responded. "What's a hernia?" Wolf asked just as quickly. "I don't know I read it in a book." Mike responded as the two of them ran. Suddenly a familiar face appeared, the snake like look of the Menuemorae slid in front of them, its eyes filled with anger and its poisonous claws lifted up and poised to strike. "Ho, Puppy Fluff!" Mike shouted, and again closed his eyes, causing him and his siblings to vanish just as the sharp nail and splatter of poison hit the ground. The then reappeared behind the snake like creature and kept on moving. "Puppy Fluff...Realy?" Wolf asked as they kept on running, the tone in his voice told his brother that he was just a tiny bit embarrassed by the Kit's outburst. "Hey, it's hard thinking up sayings like that." Mike responded and ducked into a nearby room, using his powers to slam the door shut just as Wolf ducked into the same room. Hazel was set gently on the ground, and everything in the room was lifted up and piled in front of the door. "We need to pry her off of that staff." he told his brother and tried to use his powers to separate them. The two of them turned back to the door in surprise as they heard a distinct hissing noise, almost as if something was boiling. Mike glanced at the top of the door in horror as it turned green and literally melted slowly as the poison ate away at the old wood. The kit then turned back to his sister, and tried forcefully to pry her off of the coral staff. "Gerrr." he growled, "Come on!" Wolof turned to the door just in time to see the Menumorae's clawed fingers grab the frame of the door. Without another thought, he grabbed the closest part of the staff to him, the jeweled top, "Would you just…" he said in a panic, and was surprised when the tear drop shaped sapphire slid right out of the staff. He slid across the floor, stopping only at the wall. Hazel instantly let go of the staff handle, her eyes going from blank and lifeless back to the shining eyes she used to have, full of both worry and care. "Uh…what happened?" she asked in fear and curiosity at the same time. She quickly retracted her claws and looked to her brother Mike, "Last thing I remember is falling onto that bad guy and grabbing the staff so I didn't get hurt." she said. She turned her head to the door of the room when she heard a loud hiss and a crack. She saw all of the furniture pushed up against the door and the first few inches of it being eaten away by the thick black poison of the Menumorae. She instantly curled into as small of a ball as she could, "What's going on?" she asked. "WOLF, come here!" Mike called out to his brother. Wolf then placed the sapphire into his mouth, and ran up to his siblings, just in time for the three of them to vanish.


	8. The Escape

**Chapter 8 –The Escape**

"Where are you, you little beasts?" Benyard called out as he stomped through the halls. He stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of wood breaking and stone being scrapped. He followed it to a nearby room with the door completely ripped off. He smiled evilly and hid himself along the outer frame, "Once the Menumorae is done tearing them apart, I'll just sneak in and grab the staff." he whispered to himself and snuck a peek inside the room, only to find the Menumorae ripping through the furniture and the staff he so coveted lying on the floor, but no Kits anywhere to be found. 'The Menumrae must have already devoured them.' he thought to himself, and began sneaking into the room. He froze when the Menumorae stiffened, listening for the footsteps, and turned to look right at him. He quickly dove for the staff as the creature dove for him, grabbing the coral handle and pointing the top at it. When nothing happened, he looked it over, finally noticing that the jewel was missing. "No." he whispered to himself, and looked up to catch a face full of black poison. "GYAH!" he called out, and dropped the staff, clutching his eyes in pain as the Menumorae once again lunged at him.

Mike, Hazel and Wolf all reappeared in the kitchen area, specifically near the fireplace. Mike wobbled a short time, before shaking his head and standing upright, "Are you ok?" Hazel asked, seeing that her brother Wolf had his mouth full of Sapphire. "Yah, just, never really done a short jump that far before. Gonna take me a while to rest my mind." he said in reassurance. Suddenly all three of them heard the shrill scream of Benyard, "GYAH!" "I know that sound, The Menumorae got him in the eyes with its poison." Hazel said, and Wolf placed the Sapphire on the floor, "I know how that feels." he said, and again they heard Benyard, but this time, he screamed the bloody scream of pain. "We need to go!" Mike said, and the other two nodded, both in fright. "Grab onto me." Wolf told them, right before he picked up the Sapphire in his mouth. Mike and Hazel once again gripped his collar in their paws, and off he went like a blur of silver. Wolf moved through the halls with ease, Mike giving him directions as the three of them made their way to the door. In a flash they exited the stone building, and just as quickly the walls began cracking and crumbling. The wood of the doors and furniture splintered easily, almost as if it were brittle and dry, almost centuries old. Within seconds, the entire mountain collapsed and the floor began crumbling under their feet, "MOVE IT!" Mike shouted to his speeding brother, causing Wolf to turn his head, and see the sight that was taking place. With a panic, Wolf sped up, Hazel used her grass claws to secure herself to her brother's collar, and Mike held on for dear life. The crumbling ground seemed to follow the three of them closely the whole time, even as they approached the rock slide from the beginning. "NOW WHAT?" Hazel asked as they quickly approached the large pile of rocks. Mike closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could, searching for whatever power he had left. 'Come on,' he told himself, 'come on.' The rocks burst apart, scattering in all directions as the three of them surrounded by a small yellow pyramid barrier. "YOU DID IT!" Hazel called out to her brother as they cleared the last of the pile of boulders. Mike smiled weakly, and Hazel reached over, holding him up and safe as the three of them traveled back to the finished Higharchy Castle.

"You did really well, despite the change in the land where you were excavating." the scholar said to them. They had arrived shortly after they had burst through the rock slide, and the change in the land he had been talking about was the new deep chasm that spread out nearly across the entire continent. The Scholar sat on a nearby stone block while Mike rested on his side in the shade of a nearby tree and Hazel sat close by. Wolf had decided that being in the tree would provide the conversation with more of an adventure, just something small for the time being. "It wasn't my fault this time." Wolf said, he had handed to sapphire he held to the Scholar the moment he had arrived. "I know little one." the human responded as he turned his eyes to the tree. Mike turned to his brother his eyes shining with knowledge, "The entire region was held up by the magic of the Wizard's Staff." he said, "When we broke it, the power slowly faded." "Not necessarily." the Scholar corrected, and set the sapphire on the ground. The barren ground around d it turned green, sprouting with blue and yellow flowers for a few feet and then stopped. "This sapphire **is** the Wizard's Staff." "What?" the all called out and looked to the sapphire. I read an ancient scroll, and it appears that they used to rely completely on magic to do anything. However, they always gave names to great sources of magic, not the artifacts they were attached to. It is also why the planet is so barren and wasted now, the ancients squandered the energy the planet had and now it will take some time before it restores itself." "More than eight hundred years." Hazel said as she remembered the conversation they had before hand. The scholar simply smiled at her. "I am sorry to hear of that Benyard fellow. I may not have been fond of him but I certainly never wished such a fate." he said and turned as he heard the paw steps of the super dog and father of the Kits. "Finally!" he said in exasperation, "I thought we'd never finish." "Oh, don't be such a downer." Mittens said as she walked next to him. "Me…A downer?" Bolt asked as if the very word was a shock to him, "You weren't the one carrying all of that stone from the quarry to the castle." "And just think, you'll be so much stronger for it." Mittens said as she pushed her side into his. Bolt simply chuckled and blushed, "Well…ok. But only because you like it so much." he said and looked to his children, "They weren't bothering you were they?" he asked. The scholar smile gently and shook his head, "Not at all. They were actually very exciting to talk with." he said as he reached down and picked up the sapphire, "And now, I will fulfill my end of the bargain." Bolt and Mittens looked to each other in curiosity, "Bargain?" Bolt asked, "We never made a bargain." "None the less, I am determined to help you, meet me in the great hall of the Higharchy Castle when you are ready." the human said, and stood up, leaving them alone. Mittens and her husband walked up to their children, "What was that all about?" Bolt asked as he looked back at the human. Mittens on the other hand, curiously looked to Mike's side, "What is that in your fur young man?" she asked both curiously and slightly upset. Mike flinched a little at the tone of his mother's voice, and then picked up his head to glance at the side that was facing the sky. Smudged and rubbed into his white fur, was a large amount of black soot, drastically changing the color of his side. He gritted his teeth in worry and thought, "It was my fault Mommy." he heard Wolf say, "We were playing near the forge and I accidently pushed him into the soot tray. I'm sorry." "I saw it Mommy. I told them not to play over there, but Wolf didn't listen." Hazel said, only causing Mittens to believe it more. Mittens seemed to mull it over in her head, only to finally accept it, "Just be more careful next time sweetie," she said, "I don't want to lose any of you Kits." she said, and nuzzled Hazel a short while before turning back to the castle doors, "Come on you three, let's go see what he has that will help us." she said with Bolt following close behind. Wolf jumped down from the tree as Hazel and Mike lifted themselves up from their position on the grass, and Mike shook himself off. "Hazel, Wolf." he called out causing them both to stop and turn to him, "Why did you say that to Mommy?" "Because that's what brothers…" Wolf said, only have Hazel interrupt and add her own two cents in, "And sisters!" she said. "…and sisters do, they look out for each other." the grey Kit finished, rolling his eyes as he added his sister's part in. Mike smiled happily as he joined his siblings, "Thanks you two." he said and they followed their parents into the large building.

Inside the library at the Avona house hold, the same blue book lay open on the floor, until a great gust of wind picked up again, causing the book to wildly flip pages. From above the flying pages, a tornado appeared, carrying Bolt, Mittens and the three kits near the top, and dropping them unceremoniously on the ground. Bolt found himself dropped behind one of the smaller shelves as Mittens latched herself to the side of one of the taller ones with her grass claws and Hazel holding tightly to her collar with her paws and teeth. Wolf found himself flung to the floor near the door while Mike was buried head first into an open spot on one of the shelves. The wind died down, vanishing from the room just as quickly as it had appeared, and once it had, Mittens jumped down with her daughter on her back. Bolt trotted out from behind the shelf and Wolf walked up to meet them. Bolt looked at all of them, "Where's Mike?" he asked, and was answered when the Kit spoke up from behind the bookshelf, "I've been looking for this book." he said. Mittens and Bolt began pulling books off of the shelf, allowing Mike to pop his head out with a small brown book in his mouth. Wolf and Hazel both began to chuckle with laughter at the silly antics of their brother. Bolt exhaled his worry, finally calming down as his family finally set paw back into their own time, "Not this time, Mike." he said. "Aw." the Kit said through the book, and jumped down to set it on the ground, "Please?" he asked. "Mike listen, reading is fine on your own time, but right now you Kits need a good night's rest." Mittens said. "Yes Mommy." he said, his ears pinning themselves to his head. Mittens looked to him, her eyes soft and a new understanding in her soul, "Tell you what, how about I read you a bed time story, one that's easy for me to read." she suggested. Mike turned his head, thinking about her proposal, "You have to do it every night from now on." he said. Mittens chuckled happily and Bolt nodded his head, "Deal!" he said for her, "And some times, I'll read them." Mike, Hazel and Wolf jumped into the air with joy, shouting, "YAY!" as they did, and ran off towards their sleeping aria. Bolt and Mittens laughed as they walked to the door, "Dear," she said as she turned to the white shepherd, "I don't think the Avonas will appreciate the mess we made." She turned back to the library, books strewn on the ground and papers spread all over, "Oh," Bolt said as he turned to the same sight, "Right." and he took off, zooming around the room at top speed, putting everything back where it should be, including the book that sent them on their wild journey through time. "I think a nice fairy tale will do." Mittens said as she used her paw to pull a small book out from a nearby shelf and picked it up with her teeth. "I'm with you, nothing dangerous about a simple fairy tale." Bolt said as he walked out the door alongside her.

**THE END**


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